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As Olive watched her movie and reflected on Ned, Ned himself was downstairs in the Pie Hole, baking a triple berry pie in an effort to escape from his thoughts. His plan, however, was not working. Try as he might Ned kept finding his thoughts straying towards Olive. He kept re-playing last weeks events over in his mind. Why had he said that? He had been hanging there for dear life, with Olive hanging onto him, and as the branch began to break so many things were going through his mind. His response to her confession about him never looking at her the way he looked at Chuck had just slipped out, he hadn't even thought about it. Now Ned was in a state of confusion. He heard the pie shop bell ding and he jumped a little in surprise. He knew either Olive or Chuck would soon enter the kitchen, and he wasn't sure which would be worse at that moment.

"Coming in." He heard Chuck chorus as she entered the kitchen, her hands in the air in a cautious way, but Ned knew she only did it to humor him. Ned tried to smile, but only managed to raise one corner of his mouth, so his gaze quickly dropped to the pie.

"Hey, Chuck," Ned's voice was obviously nervous and he tried to keep his tone normal, "Aren't you here a little early?" He looked up again to see if Chuck had been able to detect his discomfort, but she was wearing an ecstatic grin on her face, and hadn't seemed to notice.

"I found this," she pulled a note out of her pocket and placed it on the table for Ned to see, "when I was going through my dad's stuff he had left behind." Ned began to read the note, but Chuck was too excited to let him finish so she blurted out, "He wants me to meet him in Egypt!" Ned looked up, a look of shock on his face.

"E-Egypt." Ned spluttered. Chuck looked at him consolingly, but was still very overjoyed.

"I know this isn't the ideal situation and the last thing I want to do is spend a month away from you, but this has been a dream for my dad and I for long time and now that I have him back again it's not so much a dream anymore as a possibility, a possibility that would make me so very happy." Chuck stopped to take a breath and gage Ned's reaction. When he didn't respond, but merely stood there starring blankly at her Chuck became concerned. "Ned? Say something." She seemed to snap him out of whatever was holding him back.

"Of course you should go with your dad, that sounds like a great opportunity." Ned said this very fast, and became very absorbed into his pies.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Chuck asked nervously. Ned looked up and smiled at her, she really did deserve a vacation with her dad, even if her absence would make his situation with Olive even worse.

"Yah, you should do this with your dad." Ned's words were sincere, and put an even brighter smile on Chuck's face, but now he was left with an even greater dilemma.

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Later that day Emerson Cod was sitting in the Pie Hole next to Chuck who was leafing through pamphlets on Egypt, and across from Ned who, Emerson noticed, kept glancing at Olive nervously as she served the customers. Ned's apparent infatuation with Olive was getting on Emerson's nerves, especially when he was trying to tell him something about a case. He reached over and snapped his fingers in front of Ned's face to get his attention.

"Do I need to dye my hair blonde and put on a skimpy dress to get your attention? And you better say no, because no way in hell is that gonna happen!" Ned's face immediately turned red and he looked at Chuck to see what her reaction to this statement would be, but she was absorbed in her pamphlet on "Ten Things That Could Go Wrong on Your Trip to Egypt," and hadn't noticed.

"Did you know that the 7th of the ten plagues of Egypt was incurable boils? I would effect the men, livestock, everything." Chuck said. Emerson pushed his pie away, apparently loosing his apatite. Olive, who had been one table over and listening in on their conversation made a face. Chuck thinks she's so smart! Olive went over to their table, refilling Emerson's cup of coffee, ready with a fact of her own.

"Did you know a sneeze is one eighth of an orgasm? No wonder it feels so good to sneeze right?" Olive said. Emerson looked at her with a mix of disgust and disbelief, Chuck however laughed.

Ned cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Um, Chuck, you should get going, you'll miss your flight." Ned started to slide out of the booth, but Olive sat down next to him, halting his actions, and gazed at Chuck intently.

"Oooo, Flight? Where are you going?"

"I'm off to Egypt to visit my dad." Chuck said smiling.

"Ah, you're mysterious death-faking father." Olive said secretively. "That seems to be a running trend in your family." She continued thoughtfully.

"Um, Olive, not to cut this conversation short," Ned said his body practically pressed against the window in an effort to distance himself from her, "but Chuck really will miss her flight." Olive jumped up immediately.

"Oh, right, sorry." She said with a laugh, "Have a good flight Chuck." Chuck stood up too and embraced Olive, who hesitated for a moment then patted her awkwardly on the back.

"Thanks Olive," Chuck said as they broke apart, "See you in a month." She waved goodbye to Emerson, gave Digby a hug and then she and Ned left the pie shop. Olive sat back down and Emerson sighed.

"Don't you have customers to look after?" He asked annoyed.

"Well yes," Olive admitted, "but I was just thinking." She looked around, as if to make sure no one was listening. "With Chuck gone, you're going to need more help on your cases, and since I've proven to be a pretty kick-ass partner-" It was here that Emerson cut her off.

"Hell no! You may have been helpful the last few times, but you seem to be causing a certain distraction for Ned lately and I don't want him gettin' all "What? It's been a minute and one second?" on me." Olive was so excited about Emerson mentioning about her being Ned's distraction, she hadn't thought to ask about his last comment.

"A distraction?" She leaned in closer to Emerson, starring him down. "What do you mean a distraction?" She dared not get her hopes up, but it was as if her heart was speaking for her, and she was unable to help herself. Emerson shrugged and his gaze remained blasé.

"He's just been watching you and not paying attention, now would you mind getting me another slice of pie, since your elbow had made an imprint in this one." Olive looked down and saw that she had stuck her elbow in his pie. She quickly wiped up the cherry with a napkin, and hurried to get him another one, her mind spinning. Ned had been watching her? Explanations began flashing through her mind, the first being logical and depressing, but then they slowly became more exciting until she was envisioning Ned asking her to marry her. She was snapped out of these lovely thoughts by Emerson snatching the pie she had been holding for the past minute out of her hands.

"Sorry." Olive said, but still kept the dreamy look on her face. Emerson looked at her and shook his head, trying to figure out what went on in that head of hers made his head hurt.

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As Ned drove Chuck to the airport he found himself wondering what it was that made him choose her over Olive. His immediate response to this thought was guilt and trepidation for thinking such a thought. She was his childhood sweetheart, his first kiss, his first love. But what does that have to do with now? A little voice inside his head asked. What did it have to do with now? So many years had passed since they were children; they both had changed so much. And even thought they couldn't touch, he still felt feelings for her, and not being able to touch wasn't such a bad thing either. Ned's brain suddenly made a connection, and his eyes widened. Was the reason he was so set on Chuck because they didn't have to touch? He never had to worry about physical intimacy with Chuck, because they were not able to have it. What seemed like a handicap to their relationship was actually more like a bonus. He looked over at Chuck nervously; she was gazing out the window, lost in thought as well. Ned quickly looked back at the road, still shocked with his epiphany, and a little disturbed at where it left him now.